Lenovo Thinkpad SL410

Introduction

If you have the Lenovo Thinkpad SL410 and are running Linux on it please consider editing this page or adding a comment below with your compatibility details. By contributing you will help other people running this laptop or trying to make a decision on whether to buy it or not.

Must be enabled using Fn+F6 in Win7 first
Note - not all versions of SL410 actually have Bluetooth

Modem

Not Tested

USB

Works

Firewire

Works

plug in Fireware cable before USB

Card Reader

Works

Some 64 bit systems have problems with the card reader

ExpressCard Slot

Not Tested

Fingerprint Reader

Not Tested

Webcam

Works

Special keys

Works

Sounds control buttons work (+/-/mute speakers/mute microphone) but pressing the ThinkVantage button has no effect
Fn+F7 will switch LCD→HDMI (and possibly other options). Most other Fn+F-keys do not function.

Notes

Most linux distributions work very well with this laptop. No issues reported regarding mouse pad, network/wireless or screen. Some issues reported for 64 bit systems with card reader (see 'comments'). Most distros pre May 2010 have problems with the internal microphone. This may be connected with the Alsa version used. Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) 32 and 64 bit (kernel 2.6.32-21-generic-pae) seems to support everything, including microphone.

On Ubuntu 10.04 64-bit: Standby works, awakens in 2-3 seconds, and is usually reconnected to the wireless network by the time I enter my password. Hibernate works, but with 2GB of RAM is about the same speed as a regular boot.

Limited extended hardware support currently (May, 2010): thinkpad_acpi does not yet support this model. hdapsd (HD Active Protection System) does not yet support this model. No fan control. 1 Temperature sensor available.

Summary

Internal microphone has only been reported as working without applying fixes on a currrent Fedora 12, 64 bit install and Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx). On Ubuntu 9.10 32 bit it can be fixed by following these instructions: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1292587 (replace model=dell-m4-3 in step 2 with model=thinkpad). This fix does work very well indeed. Uncertain whether the internal mic is supported or not on Mandriva 2010 64 bit.

Bluetooth has been reported not to work on the following 64 bit systems: Ubuntu 9.10, Fedora 11 and 12, Sabayon and Mint (as of Jan 2010). A fix may be available (http://github.com/tetromino/lenovo-sl-laptop) - no reports available as to whether it works as advertised. Bluetooth works fine on Ubuntu 10.04 64-bit, though needs to be enabled using the Function key outside of Linux (once enabled, Bluetooth stays enabled).

Known issues
Ubuntu 10.4 64 bit (2.6.32-22-generic):
Occasional screen flickering (does not occur in Win7).
Only some Fn combinations work

Ubuntu 9.10 64 bit:
Same as 32 bit version, in addition to
Card reader reported not to work
Bluetooth reported not to work

Mandriva 2010 32 bit:
Everything works, except some Fn combinations

Fedora 12 64 bit (2.6.31.12-174.2.19.fc12.x86_64):
ATI 4570 graphics card reported not to be supported, 3D can be enabled using the mesa-dri-drivers-experimental package
Speakers do not auto-mute when headphones are plugged in
Bluetooth does not work

All of the previous posts are from around 2010 so it's worth adding an update: SL410 works great out of the box on modern linux distros e.g. current Debian testing/wheezy and arch linux. That includes wireless, speakers and microphone, and suspend.
I've been running linux on it for around 3 years now without any issues bar the initial lack of microphone support in ubuntu karmic (a long time ago).

An update to the subject:With Debian 6 Everything Works great except the ThinkVantage button and a few functions.I still had to blacklist thinkpad_acpi and i2c_i801 to get rid of the two error messages.I appended the kernel command with i915.powersave=0 to stop the screen flicker. Ubuntu 10.10 and Fedora 14 dont seem to give those errors but are too unstable for my taste.

darmis, 2011/03/06 18:29

Everything works with Deb 6???? really? I just stopped using ubuntu 10.10 the performance sucked! fedora 14 performance seems good right but now I want to see if deb 6 is really working…. I prefer debian

Marcus, 2010/12/01 04:20

the page refers to “occasional screen flickering” in ubuntu.I see that as well in 10.04LTS 32bit. anyone have a fix?

the page refers to “occasional screen flickering” in ubuntu.I see that as well in 10.04LTS 32bit. anyone have a fix?

Gigi, 2010/05/12 12:00

Fedora 13 beta works great on my SL410. Wireless LAN, display resolution, graphics acceleration(intel x4500), 3d graphics and webcam worked out of the box. There was a Xorg/mesa bug in F13 beta which caused the display to lag when compiz was active. It has been fixed by an update some time back.

Suspend & Hibernate are working 100% of the time. Power management, cpu frequency scaling are supported out of the box. I was also able to send & receive files over bluetooth.

Speakers wouldn't mute when headphones were plugged in and I had to add model=asus. (haven't tried model=thinkpad).

Haven't tried the card reader and microphone. AFAIK, the fingerprint reader is not supported on Linux yet.

Gigi, 2010/05/20 10:40

Card reader works without any issues. On inserting the memory card from my Canon Powershot camera, Gnome prompted to mount it and import the photos automatically.

Note: The CPU intel 5870 doesn't have the VT extension to make use of KVM on Linux. Virtualbox/Qemu seem to work though

F Hubbard, 2010/05/01 11:24

SL 410 Open Suse 11.2“No Blutooth adapters present”

hth

TubaSoldier, 2010/02/27 05:49

Installed Mandriva 2010. 32bit installation. It was the only install media I had laying around so no reports on 64bit OS. I did not get bluetooth or a fingerprint reader so no feedback there. I have not tested the HDMI out or the headphone jack.

The SD card reader works just fine. All it does is connect a storage device to your system.

As previously stated, some of the FN keys do not work. But it has been the most Linux compatible systems I have ever owned.

Suspend works great! Hibernation also works great! Both were able to get back up and running again and connect back to the network without any issues.

D. S. Vance, 2010/02/20 07:50

After a week of use, had the following issues with Fedora 12 2.6.31.12-174.2.19.fc12.x86_64:

- ati 4570 graphics card not supported by catalyst drivers but 3D effects can be enabled by installing the mesa-dri-drivers-experimental package (it is not perfect though)

- headphone jack works but when headphones are first plugged in, sound comes out both the laptop speakers and the headphones; in order to mute the laptop speakers, the speaker mute button needs to be pressed

- internal mic does not work under fedora (it has only worked under 64bit opensuse 11.2)

Would really like to get the the mic and bluetooth going, if anyone has had success with these issues, please advise.

D. S. Vance, 2010/03/09 07:13

After regular updates, internal mic now works.

Andy, 2010/03/17 05:39

Would it be possible that this coincided with the Fedora upgrade to kernel 2.6.32 on the 27th of February (looking at wikipedia)? If so, one can probably expect that most of the other distros too will support the internal mic within the next few months,Andy

Andy, 2010/05/02 01:39

The microphone fix for Ubuntu Karmic (9.10) 32 bit involves upgrading Alsa to 1.0.21. This version is the default in Ubuntu Lucid Lynx 10.4, so my suspicions are that this aspect of Ubuntu will work 'out of the box' now. Anyone who has installed a fresh version of 10.4 on their SL410 and can share their experience?

Andy, 2010/05/03 04:56

The microphone works on Ubuntu 10.4 (lucid lynx) - the alsa version installed by upgrading is 10.0.22 and works out of the box. This obviates the need for the fix mentioned in the 'summary' section.

Ignas, 2010/02/01 11:18

Any updates on issues mentioned in summary?

Ignas M.

Joseph, 2010/01/25 08:43

I just bought the new SL410 for sale at bestbuy. Everything worked out of the box with opensuse 11.2. Very happy with its linux compatibility.

Andy, 2010/01/27 06:28

Hi Joseph,would you mind checking whether you are experiencing the same issues on opensuse 11.2 as people are experiencing under Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic) and which are listed above? Also, are you using a 23 bit or 64 bit version? As Ignas points out in a post below, often the first impression is that _everything_ works. However, with continued use you may slowly discover that there are a few issues, which are minor in the minds of some, major in the minds of others depending on intended use of the laptop.

Ignas, 2010/01/09 11:55

Did you manage to sort special keys (fn combinations) multitouch touchpad, bluetooth and card reader?

Andy, 2010/01/12 01:43

At least some of the fn combinations, like NumLk, work. As far as I know, my laptop didn't come with bluetooth. The card reader works perfectly. (Ubuntu 09.10/2.6.31-17-generic-pae 32 bit)

Ignas, 2010/01/12 17:30

Well in my case nothing's happening…(thinkpad sl410 2842-AKG, ubuntu 9.10/2.6.31-17 64bit). It's just that first impression that the os is performing fine on this machine. Yes, some of the basic fn combinations do work and etc. In overall the situation is not that bad, but there are those annoying imperfections, which restrict full laptop usability. It would be excellent if someone came up with a fix package, similar to that one for the older sl series (300, 400, 500). Also there is another point that i don't get. Why run a 64bit machine on 32bit software?

regards,Ignas M.

Andy, 2010/01/12 18:59

As far as I understand, historically, the 32 bit version has been better supported in terms of hardware drivers. Looking at the issues people running 64 bit version of different linux distros are having, it seems that this is still true./A

Ignas, 2010/01/12 19:19

Well, let us hope that there will be improvements regarding 64bit technology and this laptop.

Hi -Glad to find this group.Running 11.2 Suse on my SL410 - what a lovely look & suse's desktop so much better than windows & osx!Funny/typical/annoying story how I arrived at Linux/suse – Lenova would not send me duplicate recovery dvds for win7 when i told them had deleted recovery partition after backing up to dvd as instructed the first half recovery partition in order to restore to factory default … thus because of their poor language i inadvertently lost the recovery media for win7 and of course the dumb wenches in lenova's atlanta office were absolute bitches about it (what else is new) … so they want me to pay them 50 measly bucks for the os again…i decided to take the penquin plunge and say to hell once and for all with the proprietary evil empires (all of em)….

now my son and i are total suse fanboys…i tried fedora and ubuntu (both 64) first, and they are beautiful, but suse looks like something steve jobs would envy…64 bit version seems so responsive and powerful and satiny smooth!

my son is banging away terminal code like no tomorrows and i am still thrilling over changing my desktop theme, as is my wont, keeping my fingers crossed at every thrilling turn

just an old fag i guess:)

Have not been concerned with Fn combos but as I put this monkey to work, will explore for sake of this list.

Have been wondering about whether Blutooth enabled on this laptop..need to explore that question too

ps anyone wants to send me replacement win7 dvds i wont complain :) – i do own the software license whether lenova wants to make me pay for it or not (sheesh! what bs!)

F Hubbard, 2010/04/30 11:57

Hi again

I meant BluRAY not BlueTOOTHHaven't tried either but a google search suggests if i had Bluray i would know it.Also Blutooth easily configured (this was not linus info tho)

Will try some of the features reported not working in Fedora & Ubuntu, see if they work in Suse 11.2, just so yall will know.

Has this issue been resolved in Ubuntu Fedora etc yet does anyone know?

TIA

Andy, 2010/05/08 03:08

I've seen the same acpi message on Ubuntu 10.4. I don't know about any other distros./A

Andy, 2010/05/08 03:20

I should probably also add that I wouldn't recommend installing the lenoso-sl-laptop driver. The gains are fairly small (apart froom Bluetooth), and you might get yourself into trouble unless you know what you are doing. The driver is probably NOT needed by most users at this point as the driver is experimental and requires a small amount of tinkering.

While it would be nice to have better fan control, the default settings work well, keeping the CPU temps between 40 and 50 degrees Celsius. None of the other features are important to me personally, but may be to other users.

F Hubbard, 2010/05/15 10:41

Andy - thanks for that helpful info. So, in your estimation, the acpi “not yet supported” language on the SL410 represents a limited but not fatal system hardware incompatibility? An acpi issue yes, but basically not a deal breaker, in other words?

F Hubbard, 2010/05/15 10:58

Actually, I just located a discussion thread about this acpi not supported issue in the SL410. Apparently, by removing acpi functionality, one can achieve improved performance. Here's the link. One of you Linux wizards (Andy?) should take a quick look and comment on the reliability of this approach.

“Removing bluetooth at start up and blacklisting thinkpad_acpi and now I have a smooth boot and shutdown but no sleep. But everything else works wonderfully and smooth. You can definitely notice the switch to the more stable debian base….”

TIA

F Hubbard, 2010/07/21 01:41

Suse 11.364 bitJust installed last 36 hours…

Short report –Most powerful, polished desktop interface ever!

skype doesn't seem to work

* no test bluetooth yet

suspend is working!

mic works

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